Acute myocardial infarction in a young woman with systemic lupus erythematosus

Multiple coronary aneurysms and acute myocardial infarction in a female patient with rhupus: case report and literature review

Coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) are an infrequent cause of coronary artery disease in both systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), most occurring as a result of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Until now, no cases of CAA have been described in a patient with rhupus syndrome (RhS). Differentiating whether CAA stem from primary vasculitis, atherosclerosis, or a combination of both continues to pose a significant challenge. We present the first described clinical case of a 43-year-old patient with RhS and multiple CAA identified by the presentation of an acute myocardial infarction. The presence of multiple cardiovascular risk factors and the absence of inflammatory findings, both in PET-CT and arterial biopsy, favored an atherosclerotic versus a vasculitic etiology of the CAA. At the time of the aneurysms diagnosis, the patient showed no signs of SLE activity and only moderate RA activity, which underscores the importance of screening for silent coronary aneurysms in these patients, even in subjects exhibiting little apparent activity from their underlying disease. This case also exemplifies the severe impact of atherosclerotic burdens on such patients, demanding vigilance and aggressiveness in its prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment. We hypothesize that RhS could engender an even greater risk of presenting CAA than either SLE or RA on their own, which therefore warrants more careful follow-up in these patients.

Myocardial infarction in young patients (≤35 years of age) with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report and clinical analysis of the literature

The present study aims to report a-20-year old girl with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who developed myocardial infarction (MI) and also aims to review acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in young SLE cases (≤35 years) reported in the literature. We conducted a comprehensive review of the English literature from 1975 to 2006 to analyse data on MI in SLE patients who had developed AMI either at 35 or earlier. In 32 English articles, we identified 49 SLE patients, plus our case, with AMI. They consist of 41 female and nine male patients, their mean age being 24 ± 6.4 years (range of 5—35). Disease duration varied between 0 and 13 years. The lag time between the onset of the SLE manifestations and development of AMI was 7.7 ± 5.4 year (range of 1 month to 20.5 years). We divided the patients into three subgroups according to their coronary involvement type (Group I: normal coronary artery or coronary thrombosis ( n = 16); Group II: coronary aneurysm/arteritis ( n = 12); Group III: coronary atherosclerosis ( n = 22)). The lag time between the onset of the SLE manifestations and development of MI in the subgroups showed variations: Group I < Group II < Group III. Both prevalence of renal involvement and steroid therapy were higher in patients with coronary atherosclerosis than were in Group I. There were one or more risk factors for atherosclerosis in 39 SLE patients. AMI in young SLE patients may be seen, albeit rare. We suggest that clinicians should have a low threshold for cardiac evaluation in patients with SLE. Also, traditional risk factors could be managed through preventive measures. Lupus (2007) 16, 289—297.

Myocardial infarction with normal coronaries: an unexpected finding in a 13-year-old girl with systemic lupus erythematosus

We report a 13-year-old girl diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who presented with left-sided chest pain, with ECG changes and elevation troponins that were suggestive of an acute inferior wall myocardial infarction (MI). Her multi-slice computed tomography coronary angiogram and standard angiogram were normal. The cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed an area of infarcted myocardium that was in the right coronary artery territory. We believe her MI was most likely secondary to coronary vasospasm. MI is rare and coronary vasospasm is an uncommon cause of MI in children and adolescents with SLE.

Giant coronary aneurysm in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

Coronary aneurysm is rare in SLE and confirmation of etiology is usually made at postmortem examination. We encountered a giant aneurysm with multiple stenotic segments of the coronary arteries in a patient with SLE who had previous history of AAA/TAA. Resection of the aneurysm and coronary artery bypass graft were successfully performed. Histology of the coronary arterial wall showed severe damage of the media with inflammatory cell infiltration, indicating that the aneurysm was caused by arteritis. The aneurysm may have developed during the long course of inactive stage of SLE, emphasizing the need for screening of coronary lesions in the management of SLE.

What is the link between vascular dysregulation and glaucoma?

The need of blood flow to different organs varies rapidly over time which is why there is sophisticated local regulation of blood flow. The term dysregulation simply means that blood flow is not properly adapted to this need. Dysregulative mechanisms can lead to an over- or underperfusion. A steady overperfusion may be less critical for long-term damage. A constant underperfusion, however, can lead to some tissue atrophy or in extreme situations to infarction. Unstable perfusion (underperfusion followed by reperfusion) leads to oxidative stress. There are a number of causes that lead to local or systemic vascular dysregulation. Systemic dysregulation can be primary or secondary of nature. A secondary dysregulation is due to other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis, systemic lupus erythematodes, multiple sclerosis, colitis ulcerosa, or Crohns disease. Patients with a secondary vascular dysregulation normally have a high level of circulating endothelin-1 (ET-1). This increased level of ET-1 leads to a reduction of blood flow both in the choroid and the optic nerve head but has little influence on autoregulation. In contrast, primary vascular dysregulation has little influence on baseline ocular blood flow but interferes with autoregulation. This, in turn, leads to unstable oxygen supply, which seems to be a relevant component in the pathogenesis of glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Vasospasm, its role in the pathogenesis of diseases with particular reference to the eye

Vasospasm can have many different causes and can occur in a variety of diseases, including infectious, autoimmune, and ophthalmic diseases, as well as in otherwise healthy subjects. We distinguish between the primary vasospastic syndrome and secondary vasospasm. The term "vasospastic syndrome" summarizes the symptoms of patients having such a diathesis as responding with spasm to stimuli like cold or emotional stress. Secondary vasospasm can occur in a number of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, rheumatoid polyarthritis, giant cell arteritis, Behcet's disease, Buerger's disease and preeclampsia, and also in infectious diseases such as AIDS. Other potential causes for vasospasm are hemorrhages, homocysteinemia, head injury, acute intermittent porphyria, sickle cell disease, anorexia nervosa, Susac syndrome, mitochondriopathies, tumors, colitis ulcerosa, Crohn's disease, arteriosclerosis and drugs. Patients with primary vasospastic syndrome tend to suffer from cold hands, low blood pressure, and even migraine and silent myocardial ischemia. Valuable diagnostic tools for vasospastic diathesis are nailfold capillary microscopy and angiography, but probably the best indicator is an increased plasma level of endothelin-1. The eye is frequently involved in the vasospastic syndrome, and ocular manifestations of vasospasm include alteration of conjunctival vessels, corneal edema, retinal arterial and venous occlusions, choroidal ischemia, amaurosis fugax, AION, and glaucoma. Since the clinical impact of vascular dysregulation has only really been appreciated in the last few years, there has been little research in the according therapeutic field. The role of calcium channel blockers, magnesium, endothelin and glutamate antagonists, and gene therapy are discussed.